Sunday, September 25, 2011

I left the house yesterday morning to find new messages on walls in the neighborhood.

Of course I can't know whether the anonymous scribbler (scribblers?) really is a veteran.

But given that only one percent of us have endured the military adventures of the last decade and that only their immediate friends and families have endured the terrible consequences, it seems likely that is who is screaming for attention here. According to the linked 2010 survey:

Fewer than 3 out of 10 Americans know there are around 200,000 homeless veterans in the U.S.

Fewer than 3 out of 10 Americans know that 20% of male veterans aged 18 - 24 were unemployed last year.

Only 35% are aware that not all veterans are eligible for VA healthcare for life, and only 31% know that veterans can wait up to a year for disability benefits.

We say "thank you for your service" -- unless they are gay -- and pay very little attention to what happens to them after their multiple tours of fighting are finished.

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What's this blog about?

My musings on current events, current projects, current anxieties and current delights.

I started this under the Bush regime when any grain of sand thrown into the gears of the over-reaching imperial state seemed worthwhile.

I have worked to elect more and better Democrats -- and to hammer the shit out of them once we get them in office so they do the things their constituents want and need. It's a big job.

I have endured the dashed potential for a more transformational regime under Obama. The man has made himself an accomplice in the imperial crimes of his predecessor as well as committing his own. He has also almost certainly been the most progressive president most of us will live to see. I fear we'll look back on his years in office with mild gratitude for a respite from national leadership that was habitually stupid and vicious, as well as wrong.

Visitors here will find a lot of commentary on books I'm reading. I am very intentionally reading intensively offline these days. When it feels hard to find direction, it's time to learn something new.

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About Me

I'm a progressive political activist who runs trails and climbs mountains whenever any are available. I've had the privilege to work for justice in Central America (Nicaragua and El Salvador), in South Africa, in the fields of California with the United Farmworkers Union, and in the cities and schools of my own country. I'm a Christian of the Episcopalian flavor; we think and argue a lot. For work, I've done a bit of it all: run an old fashioned switch-board; remodeled buildings and poured concrete; edited and published periodicals, reports and books; and organized for electoral campaigns. I am currently an independent consultant to organizations seeking "help when you have to make a fight."